As a communication professional our job is to communicate the message of the clients to the right media vehicle. Right? Well, not always. Communicators are paid to communicate the message of others and the conventional wisdom suggests against becoming the subject themselves. However, there is no code of ethics that refrains a communicator to communicate his own message. Is there any? I have my serious doubts, and unlike traditional journalism where objectivity and detached view point are the overtly pronounced parameters for obvious reasons, the nature of other forms of communication, Advertising & PR does not come in the way of a free flowing symmetrical communication.
The question as to whether a communicator should communicate self or not was posed by a journalist friend to whom I had sent the press release of the global tie-up of TRACK2MEDIA with Heusler PR, Australia. I have no doubts that the journo friend got confused with our going-global press release, since he was into the habit of receiving the releases of the clients from our end. The result was a prompt phone call to ask whether I was serious with it to be treated as the press release or it was meant for mere information.
What seemed to be an innocuous question actually made me introspect as to whether I crossed the ethical lines of the communication business. I also started questioning myself as to whether I had a need to communicate to the world in general and media in particular about self. However, on second thoughts I decided to stick to my inner urge to communicate, even if it is about self. I understand a number of journo and even some PR pros will contest the claim, but the fact of the matter is that a larger understanding of media business and ethics is needed in the given context.
What used to be unethical in old school of communication is no longer valid in today’s competitive media world. Cross channel promotion of media houses, self glorified version of impact of the news stories, and in some cases individual journalists being promoted as brands is an accepted reality today. And hence I firmly believe that the question of ethics and integrity crossing the line comes into debate only when one starts taking the advantage of being into the business. But so long one has a valid argument and newsworthy information; there is no reason why a communicator should not communicate about self.
After all, we communication professionals don’t function in a vacuum and unless we have something relevant to share, the traditional media will not entertain us, even if there is an element of personal friendship involved. It is not self glorification that can translate into media coverage, only by virtue of being in the same trade. Now if I probe the issue a bit deeper, I have the feeling that more than living under an enforced code of ethics on us, we have subconsciously relegated ourselves as mere messengers.
Of course, since we feel shy of becoming the news ourselves, there is a genre of media platforms that have emerged to keep the industry well reported. There are portals like exchange4media and afaqs, catering to the industry with a genuine B2B focus. In the mainstream media, even though the television channels have broke the clutter with their financial clout, PR professionals are still treated like vendors. The moot point is whether we take an offence to it, or subconsciously we accept it as an industry reality.
It is anybody’s guess as to what is the ground reality. Some of the best known communications consulting agencies, even the ones that specialise in helping the corporate world go to public, are privately held companies. It seems the dilemma of communicating self makes them feel shy of coming out with their own public issues. Intent seems to be very much there; otherwise some of them would not have been deemed public limited companies. But it is the conventional school of communication that acts as a deterrent and communicators fail to get a face lift by communicating self.
Thankfully, I belong to the new school of communication, feel proud of my job and the industry and will never feel shy of communicating self. Right time, right message, right media…..that is the professional philosophy of TRACK2MEDIA Consulting.
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